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October 7, 2016

Stanford Wants to Help the Midwest – and That’s Awesome

Originally published by Andrew Yang on the Venture For America Forbes Blog

Stanford business school recently announced a new fellowship program – the Stanford USA MBA Fellowship – that will cover the full cost of tuition and fees – about $160k each – for 3 graduates who would then go work for 2 years in the Midwest. An admission officer said the program hopes to find “people who are interested in bringing everything that they learned back to their region to develop it.” Stanford’s hope is to expand the program to 8 students next year and include the Southeast.
This is kind of awesome on multiple levels.

First, it’s a major acknowledgment that some parts of the U.S. are doing a lot better than others. According to the Economic Innovation Group, only 20 counties generated half of the economy’s 166,500 new businesses between 2010 and 2014, including places like Austin, San Francisco, and New York. Regions are increasingly diverging in terms of their economic dynamism nationwide. The Midwest and the Southeast are not thriving as much as other parts of the country by many measures.
Second, it acknowledges that Stanford grads are unlikely to head to diverse parts of the U.S. In 2015, 60 percent of Stanford graduates stayed on the West Coast with only 12 percent going to the East Coast and all other parts of the U.S. (the remaining 28 percent went abroad). Similarly, 63% of summer placements in 2016 were on the West Coast, with only 2 percent in the Midwest and 1 percent in the South.

Third, it says that where Stanford graduates work is important, thereby affirming Stanford’s values and mission as a national institution. Its mission reads in part ‘to promote the public welfare’ and the mission of the business school includes “to develop innovative, principled, and insightful leaders who change the world.” If the school is attracting only those who want to work in Silicon Valley, it’s only producing a certain kind of person and leader.

Venture For America has been working in the Midwest since 2012, since we placed our first 12 Fellows in Detroit. Since then, we’ve recruited, trained and placed about 500 top college graduates in startups and growth organizations in Cleveland, Columbus, Detroit, Cincinnati, St. Louis, New Orleans, Baltimore, and 10 other cities around the U.S. We can attest to the fact that there are real needs and opportunities in these regions. There are promising businesses tackling distinct problems in all of them that would benefit from some new talent.

Too many schools see what their alums are doing and withhold any meaningful value judgment. It takes a rare institution to say, “Let’s try and get some people who want to do something different that speaks to our values” and then put money to work to make it happen. I love the fact that Stanford is putting concrete resources behind attracting and empowering applicants with different designs for their future. Here’s hoping Stanford’s effort is successful and emulated by others. If the grads need places to land, let us know – we know a lot of companies in the Midwest who would love to have them!

Posted in: News, Inside VFA

VFA Has Ceased Operations


Since its first cohort in 2012, Venture For America (VFA) has championed entrepreneurship, innovation, and economic growth across the nation. As of August 6, 2024, VFA has ceased its operations. While this marks the end of an era, it also provides an opportunity to reflect on the extraordinary accomplishments and lasting impact that we have achieved together.

Please click here to read the full update.

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